One Yankee's love for history, food & hitting the road.

Banana Cherry Pecan Cake

Far too often I buy fresh fruit with every intention of eating it as a snack or on my cereal, but then I see that same fruit in the bowl a week later – soft, brown and sad.

In most cases this means a silent curse and a trip to the trash for the mealy apple or pear, but not so for the banana. For the banana, there is a chance at redemption in the form of baked goods, which do better with overripe bananas.

This weekend I had a few (okay, five) overripe bananas on my counter, so I made it up to them by throwing three into the batter for this cake, which also has dried cherries and toasted pecans. As you should know by now, I like my cakes dense, studded with nuts and dried fruit, and sans frosting.

This cake is dense and moist and not too sweet. It would be fine with a cream cheese glaze or generous dusting of powdered sugar, but I left it as-is. If it looks more like a slice of muffin, I won’t feel so bad when I eat it for breakfast all week.

I also know bananas and cherries aren’t very Christmassy, hence, the snowflake napkin.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-12 cup Bundt or tube pan, or generously spray with baking cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the bananas, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined.

Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to batter until combined. Fold in the dried cherries and pecans.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, then bake for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I, like you, am always leaving sad fruit on the table. Except this summer I had a really bad habit not of saying “I will bake this banana!” but “Someday I will bake this banana!”

Intentions were good but eventually they started piling up. I had about a dozen in my freezer when the power went out in October. I woke up smelling bananas. I had a really awkward 20 minutes with my freezer and my trashcan. And that was that.